It may have taken the worldwide spread of a new disease, but people are finally washing their hands correctly. To protect yourself and your community from coronavirus, the CDC recommends washing your hands for at least 20 seconds frequently throughout the day. That was the recommended minimum time before the coronavirus outbreak, for the record, but many people are new to the basic hygiene procedure.
If you're struggling to keep track of exactly how long to scrub your hands with soap and water, an old trick has always been to sing "Happy Birthday" twice, which will get you to hit the recommended 20-second mark. But this new tool spotted by Geek.com, WashYourLyrics.com, which was created by 17-year-old developer William Gibson, can break down just about any popular song into roughly 20-second segments by pairing Genius’s lyric database with Britain's National Health Service’s instructional poster.
Here's the graphic it generates for Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."
You can go to WashYourLyrics.com and experiment with your favorite tunes. No matter what song you sing to yourself while you wash your hands, doing it thoroughly is the important thing. According to health officials, proper hand washing with soap and water is more effective than wearing a mask or using hand-sanitizer at protecting you from coronavirus. Here are more tips for staying safe during an outbreak.